


Like the end closing in on them

by Jamesandthedog



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, James has bad news, Marauders' Era, bloody prophecy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-30 08:02:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15747615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jamesandthedog/pseuds/Jamesandthedog
Summary: He just came home. He just heard it half an hour ago. He’s not ready to break her, never ready to…But he has to. Because there’s a war and there’s Dumbledore and there’s a bloody divination that he was never very fond of. He always thought it’s really more of an easy Outstanding for slackers with excellent gibberish skills than a branch of magic.





	Like the end closing in on them

**Author's Note:**

> **Notes:** Oh boy, it's my first piece of fanfiction, so excuse me in advance.
> 
>  **Feedback:** I'd be super happy if you'd share your thoughts in comments!

James leans back and closes his eyes, arching his neck until it rests on the back of the sofa. How he wishes he could just sink into it, for all he knows time could stop and he’d stay there forever. He’d give anything just to stop time, stop the world from moving, breaking everything he ever cared for.

But time being a wretched prick it is, does not stop for him, and the weight inside his chest grows as he sits in silence, brows knit in worry.

“James?”

He shakes his head just a little, needing just a bit more time. _Not yet, Merlin please not yet._

But the soft voice does not wait. He can feel her sitting next to him, comforting hand pressing on his shoulder.

“James, what’s wrong?”

He sighs before turning his head towards the sounds, and the hand moves on his cheek, thumb gently stroking the overgrown stubble he hasn’t shaved in weeks. He presses against it before opening his eyes to see a pair of green ones, god he loves those. When he sees the sleeping baby bundle on her lap – god he’d give anything to make the time stop.

James knows she can see the pain in his expression, so he opens his mouth to speak but the air is escaping his lungs and the words are lost somewhere in that awful weight filling his insides one organ at the time. Lily’s hand is moving again, pressing to his neck, there’s comfort in a way she wraps the hair in his neck around her fingers.

He just came home. He just heard it half an hour ago. He’s not ready to break her, never ready to…

But he has to. Because there’s a war and there’s Dumbledore and there’s a bloody divination that he was never very fond of. He always thought it’s really more of an easy Outstanding for slackers with excellent gibberish skills than a branch of magic.

“You haven’t been quiet for once in your life, Potter, and you’re not going to start now.”

Her voice is imperative and he loves her for it. He gains the strength to pull up just a bit, gaining his posture and running his hand through the messy hair that hasn’t been cut for some time either. Standing in front of a mirror seems so vain these days. James raises his eyes from their sleeping son, he takes a breath – it’s shaky but it’s breathing nevertheless. It’s air in his lungs.

“There’s a prophecy, Lils… He says we can’t fix it. I- God I don’t know how to fix it.”

Her smile doesn’t expect him to, but he sees the same weight that made a nest inside of him pressing her chest now. “How bad is it?”

“He- He’s coming for Harry.”

There’s a cry and it breaks her, and it breaks him. They don’t need any more words, because the agony is out there. And there’s the horrible feeling of uselessness and lack of hope and all they can do is to pull each other closer as if it could ease the pain. There are his hands on her back and on her neck and there are wet cheeks and wet kisses and foreheads pressed together. And there’s the little baby boy between them, those little snorts and sniffles he makes in his sleep that seem like the most precious sounds in the whole world.

They don’t make much noise because the boy is asleep, they just slowly swing there, arms around each other, and in some obscure way it helps – because even if it feels like the end closing in on them, it’s their family, and they will never give up on it. After a while she’s holding the bundle and his holding her, and her head is pressed against his neck. And the wet kisses are no longer wet as he presses his lips on her cheek.

Lily is the first one to straighten their posture. She takes a deep breath and as she speaks up he can’t think of anyone as brave as her.

“He will not have him.”

It sounds like nothing but a mere fact.

He looks into those green eyes and she looks right back at him. “No. No he won’t.”

“Good. Let's make a plan then, Prongs.”

 


End file.
